Nate Jones Errupts with 31 Points Against Oakland City

Kingsport, TN - After coming off the AAC win on Tuesday evening, Reinhardt Basketball resumed its season after a short Thanksgiving break.  The team is playing in the NAIA "The Show" Tournament held in Kingsport, TN.

The Eagles were matched up against the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City University from Indiana.  The Eagles were led by super guard Nate Jones, who has hit the pavement running after transferring into Reinhardt this fall.  Jones helped the Eagles get the 90 to 86 win over the Mighty Oaks by scoring 31 points on 10 of 24 shooting.  He was 6 of 12 from three-point land and 5-7 on free-throws. Jones is emerging as a potential leader this season to go along with Nate Louis, Brandon Barron, and Tyle Smith.  Smith had to sit this game after being injured early in the Tuesday night game with Bryan College.  Louis also sat most of that game after coming down hard on a shot in the paint, but he was able to suit up today and put in 16 points for the Eagles.

Point Guard Brandon Barron is still trying to make his way back into action after suffering from a groin injury that started back in preseason.  He gave the Eagles a good spark on Tuesday night's AAC matchup with Bryan and he was able to get 15 points in just 15 minutes of play.  Barron's biggest contribution to the Eagles will not necessarily be points - but more his on-court leadership and controlling the game with the ball in his hands. He can definitely score and he does, but his main role is a game conductor for the team and as the season progresses, his experience for some of the younger point guards is needed.

Joining Jones, Louis, and Barron in double-figure scoring was shooting guard, Derrian Reed, who had another great game.  Reed had a breakout game against Bryan on Tuesday, which contributed to the early season AAC win.  Reed will be a needed part as the AAC schedule heats up in December and January.

This game was a tight game most of the way, however, the Eagles were able to get an 8-point lead going into the halftime break. In the second half, Reinhardt was able to keep a modest 9 to 10-point lead most of the way with the lead hitting 14 points at the twelve-minute mark.  Things began to change with about 8 minutes left in the game when the Might Oaks went on a run to cut the lead to 4 points.  The lead for the Eagles would stay around this until about 4 minutes left in the game when the game was tied after an Oakland City layup.  A made free throw gave the Mighty Oaks their first lead of the game since the early moments of the contest. 

The game would stay either tied or each team gaining a one-point lead most of the way, but a couple of Tucker Lowe free-throws pushed the Eagles' lead to three points, 89-86 with just eleven seconds remaining in the game.  Oakland City would not score any more in the final seconds and a foul to Nate Jones would get the final point for the Eagles and secure the win in game one.

The next game for the Eagles is tomorrow versus a talented Georgetown (KY) team.  The game is scheduled for 2:30 in Kingsport, TN. 

On day two of "The Show", the Eagles had a tougher time getting their offense going and they were facing a 9-1 Georgetown Tigers team from Kentucky.  The Eagles were only able to put up 59 total points in the game losing 89-57.  Reinhardt was again without their star forward, Tyler Smith in the game, which made things extra difficult against the talented team.

Nate Louis, Nate Jones, and Derrian Reed all scored in double-figures for the Eagles, but it was not enough to keep them close in the game.  Louis and Reed had 14 points each and Jones cooled off from his 31 points performance in game one finishing with 11 points. Jones had 8 rebounds in the game and Louis finished with 7.

Brandon Barron was also absent from this game after having decent games on his comeback from the lingering groin muscle pull.

Nekhi Fischer had 8 points and 7 rebounds in the game - just two off from being the fourth Reinhardt player with double-figure scoring. Transfer forward, Jacob Radaker, saw his first action of the season playing eleven minutes and scoring 4 points.

The Eagles struggled shooting from the three-point spots only shooting 23% on 7 of 30 from behind the mark. The turnover margin was high in the game with the Eagles turning the ball over 17 times.  The combination of playing a talented team like Georgetown and having issues shooting and turning the ball over made it a long day for the Eagles in their final game of "The Show"

Reinhardt kept things close for a majority of the first half staying within 2 to 4 points of the Tigers, but the lead was extended to 10 points at the 03:35 mark in the first half. Eventually, Georgetown broke out to a 13-point lead which they kept going into the halftime break. The Eagles were not able to catch Georgetown in the second half and the lead was pushed to twenty points in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Next up for the Eagles will be an AAC matchup at Montreat Cavaliers on Wednesday evening.  Reinhardt will be back home on Saturday, December 2nd for a 4 pm game with Milligan.